Ratchet and Clank: The Doctor and the Butler
by Cortana Hansen
Summary: AU version of the Reebootverse. Lawrence gets a late-night visitor. And receives an offer that he would be foolish to refuse.- Sorry for the short summary, but to say more would spoil this oneshot.


**So this is technically AU, since it kinda contradicts a part of my** ** _Ratchet and Clank Legends_** **series. Hope you all still like though.**

. . .

 _In a lonely hall, in a mansion in the quiet outskirts of Aleero City…_

Lawrence sighed as he finished dusting the last vase in the mansion. It was night already. The robotic butler looked at the glowing numbers on his watch and sighed again. 9:30 P.M. It was rare that he was ever finished with his tasks earlier than that.

Then he heard the sound of a window opening and a soft thump. Lawrence wondered if the Missus forgot to lock the window in her study again. And if she did, and if that window was opened… that meant someone was breaking in. A Combuster appeared in the butler's hand.

Lawrence walked slowly down the hall to the Missus' study. The door slid open, and the butler looked around in the darkness. In a chair in the corner, a pair of glowing red eyes stared at him.

"Can I help you?" Lawrence asked in a bored voice. "Normally people use the front door to come in."

"I don't need front doors," the person sitting in the chair spoke. His voice sounded awfully familiar to Lawrence. "Not for what I'm here for."

"If you're here for valuables-"

"I don't have any use for that." The intruder stood up from the chair and walked towards Lawrence until the moonlight from the nearby window illuminated him. "It's been a long time, Lawrence."

Lawrence stared at the intruder, studying his robotic features. "While your voice sounds familiar, I am afraid that I don't remember you."

"Oh, you don't know who I am? What a shame. Oh well. I suppose it had to be expected, because of my transformation and all."

"Pardon?"

"Hahaha! Remember that time you wore those rubber duck slippers I bought for you years ago? Oh, the looks you got were _priceless!"_

Lawrence's eyes widened with recognition. "You…"

"Yes, it's me. Doctor Nefarious." Nefarious turned around so Lawrence could see the rest of his profile. "It's an interesting sensation, being turned into a robot. You don't even realise the change until you take a good look at yourself." The robot then turned to face Lawrence again.

"But you were killed," Lawrence said. "When the Deplanetiser-"

"Yes, the galaxy thinks I'm dead," Nefarious interrupted, smirking. "But even death cannot stop the greatest mastermind in the universe." The doctor clasped his hands together, pleased with himself. "But enough about me. Let's talk about _you,_ Lawrence. Are you truly happy here?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Let me make it more clear to you- do you enjoy life under the employment of people who treat you like you're nothing but a machine?"

"My job pays well," Lawrence told him. "It pays for both my necessities and most of my wants. Why do you ask?"

"Wouldn't you rather be somewhere else?" Nefarious asked. "Think of it. You could be under my employ. We could crush the galaxy together! You could have anything and everything you could ever possibly want! The universe under _our_ rule! Come on, Lawrence. Doesn't that peak your interest in the slightest?"

"I am an honest worker," Lawrence told the doctor without hesitation. "Just because I may not like every aspect of my job does not mean I will give up my morals just to gain power."

Nefarious glared at the butler. "You'd rather stay here with these stupid _squishies?!_ They don't even appreciate you!"

Lawrence aimed his Combuster at Nefarious. "Get out."

Nefarious was deeply hurt by this gesture, but hid it. "Lawrence, I want you to come with me."

"Get out. You're not welcome here," Lawrence spoke, still aiming the weapon at him.

"Lawrence-"

"Now."

Nefarious stepped closer to Lawrence, reaching for the Combuster. "Come on now, Lawrence. You wouldn't hurt an old friend now, would you?"

"If necessary, yes. I would," Lawrence replied sternly. "Please leave, sir, while I'm giving you the chance."

Nefarious' eyes narrowed, his anger rising. "Fine. Because you were my only friend in my youth, you'll be the last one I kill when I take over this pathetic excuse for a galaxy!" The robot turned his back to the butler and jumped out of the open window into the garden outside.

Nefarious clawed his way through the Missus' rose bushes before stumbling across the lawn into his ship. "… stupid, ungrateful… I should never have come!" The robot sat down in the pilot's seat and said, "Computer, get me out of here."

 _"Destination, please."_

"I don't care, just get me off this planet," Nefarious snarled.

 _"Destination please."_

Nefarious let out a growl and said, "Set a course for my base on Magmos!"

 _"Destination set."_

Nefarious looked out the ship's visor, his eyes resting on his old home for what he was sure to be the last time. "Bon voyage, Lawrence. You made the biggest mistake in your life tonight."

. . .

 **Hopefully they were both in-character. Constructive criticism appreciated.**


End file.
